Excessive ferocity due to caution

Zhao Yi said:

"The road to the Amber Forest is bound to be fraught with danger, and I need a powerful heir god by my side."

Upon hearing this, Ji Chen blushed.

"Thank you for your trust, Lord Zhao, but aren't your expectations a bit too high?"

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to break through to the Later God Realm in just one or two days."

Zhao Yi rolled her eyes:

"I'd rather rely on myself than on you."

Ji Chen coughed lightly:

"Excuse me, so who would you like to choose as your personal bodyguard?"

Zhao Yi didn't say anything, just stared straight at him.

Feeling Zhao Yi's deadly gaze, Ji Chen's embarrassment gradually disappeared.

"No!"

"Absolutely not!"

He rejected Zhao Yi almost instantly.

But soon, Ji Chen realized that he had no right to refuse Zhao Yi.

At least they didn't have the power to directly refuse Zhao Yi.

He pursed his lips, his expression a mixture of panic and anxiety:

"My lord, look..."

"You yourself said that everyone in the underworld is now a pawn. My sister is currently unsure whether she is a black or white pawn. If we rashly bring her along, wouldn't that threaten your safety?"

Furthermore…

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yi interrupted him:

"Ji Chen, are you worried about your sister's safety?"

"But I told you, everyone in the underworld now is just a pawn."

"Whether it's your sister, that soul-collecting official, or even the emperor of the Ten Courts of Hell..."

"When needed, ghost messengers like your sister will be among the first to be abandoned as cannon fodder."

Looking at Ji Chen's extremely pale face, Zhao Yi slowly said:

"Your sister is very sensitive and trusts you completely. She seeks your help because she has realized that she is in a huge vortex."

"And what you're doing now... is just watching your own sister fall into the abyss without doing anything."

As he spoke, he raised his teacup:

"You clearly had the ability to save her before this."

Ji Chen sighed deeply:

"I feel like you're brainwashing me, sir..."

"While I certainly have no right to refuse you, Xiaopa is my sister. Regardless of how dangerous the Perilla Forest is, even if things are really as you say, there are definitely many eyes watching Xiaopa in the dark. She doesn't even know if she's a black piece or a white piece. Aren't you afraid that by directly recruiting her into your group, and making her your personal bodyguard, Xiaopa might receive a secret order and ruin your grand plan at a crucial moment?"

Zhao Yi smiled slightly:

"That's why I chose you, who are relatively weaker, over the powerful bronze statues from the underworld."

"I'm worried that there's a third player involved in this game."

"If the bronze statues only obey his orders, it means they will not switch sides."

"But you living, breathing people are different."

"You have vested interests and emotional ties, so controlling you... is much easier than controlling them."

"This answers your second question."

"As for your first question... about your sister being watched in the dark, you don't need to worry."

"I've already taken precautions to avoid its surveillance."

Ji Chen was stunned:

"Did you tamper with it?"

"What tricks?"

Zhao Yi stared at the teacup in his hand and said calmly:

"Do you remember when I went to the Qin Guang Temple to file a complaint against the church?"

Ji Chen nodded:

"I remember, after we parted, the Soul Collector had two ghost messengers escort you to the Qin Guang Palace..."

Zhao Yi slowly said:

"Those two are from the church, used to help the Soul Collector gain my trust."

He recounted his actions at the time in detail.

Ji Chen heard this and his eyelids twitched.

He knew Zhao Yi was no ordinary person, but he didn't expect him to be so wary, actually starting to pave the way for his future actions so early on!

"If you want your sister to follow us without being discovered, you only need to do two things—kill her, then bring her back to life."

Ji Chen's mind was already a complete mess.

"What would you like to do?"

Zhao Yi took out a cigarette, placed it on the table, and slid it to him.

"Your sister knows what I did. Before I left, the Soul Collector gave her the authority to act as his agent, so she knows that the two people I killed were not the two ghost messengers from the underworld."

"Now go to the underworld and report to the celestial realm where your sister resides. Tell her you've found those two dead ghost messengers. When your sister sees the case and the person who reported it, she'll immediately understand that I'm looking for her, and she'll take on the case willingly..."

"If you look into her eyes and see this case, you'll also suspect that I saw through their scheme a long time ago, otherwise I wouldn't suddenly make such a meaningless move."

"So they'll arrange for your sister to investigate me, and then I'll 'kill' her when she arrives..."

"That completes the process."

"To those (the Skull Church) who were watching your sister from behind the scenes, there's no logical problem—I saw through their scheme, including your sister's, so I killed her during the investigation."

"Later, inform the family to hold a funeral for your sister..."

"When the church's attention is on me, it will naturally overlook your sister."

Hearing Zhao Yi's plan, Ji Chen's breathing became much heavier.

"So, you deliberately didn't kill those two people just to give my sister a reason to come looking for you?"

"You... you were already thinking about this early in the morning?"

Although he had already experienced Zhao Yi's terror, the deeper he got to know him, the colder he felt.

Zhao Yi tapped his cigarette ash and chuckled:

"One chess piece, one position, multiple possible moves."

"When you hold your sister's funeral, she will meet me in a completely new identity."

"Regardless of her past identity... from that moment on, she is Shirako."

PS: First update.